RENTAL Q&A.

When and how can the landlord raise the rent?

February 09, 2003|By Robert A. Boron, Special to the Tribune.

Q. I live in a building with about 40 small units. I would like to know how often a landlord can raise the rents. I would think that he would have to provide at least a month or two notice before he increased the rent.

A. The landlord can increase the rents on a monthly basis, if you have a month-to-month tenancy, or upon the expiration of the current tenancy if you have a longer-term tenancy.

If you have a month-to-month tenancy, which will usually be the case if there is no written lease, the rent can be increased whenever the landlord chooses to do so, provided proper notice is given.

In a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord would have to give you at least 30 days' prior written notice of the rent increase. This is the same principle that applies to termination of asa month-to-month tenancy is being terminated. That notice has to be given at least 30 days before the end of a monthly term, and the rent increase, or termination for that matter, must be effective as of the end of the monthly term. In essence, the month-to-month tenancy is being terminated on the last day of a monthly term, usually the last day of a calendar month. Then a new tenancy is being created on the first day of the new month, at the new rental rate.

If there is a written lease, the rent remains as scheduled in the lease for the term of the lease, and neither the landlord nor tenant can unilaterally modify that lease term. Thus, in order to change the amount of rent payable under a written lease, both sides would have to sign a lease modification agreement. In the absence of the lease modification signed by both parties, the landlord would not be able to change the amount of the rent.

When you signed your lease, the landlord committed to rent you the unit for a specified period of time. Both of you are bound, absent an agreement, for the specified rent.

Q. I live adjacent to a chain smoker. The smoke comes into my apartment, and all my property is beginning to smell like cigarette smoke. I've complained to my landlord about this, and the landlord has put new filters on the heating unit, and has put a blocker on the front door. Nothing has helped.

I need to know if this is enough to break my lease, or at least, can I get a deduction on my rent?

A. You probably cannot break your lease based upon the smoking habits of your neighbor.

The landlord is not responsible for the conduct of the next-door neighbor tenant, and the tenant would have the right to smoke in his or her apartment. He or she is not breaking any laws by doing so, and there probably is no prohibition to that effect in the lease.

As you cannot hold the landlord responsible for the acts of other tenants in disturbing you, or for causing damage to your property, you cannot hold the landlord responsible for the effects of the tenant smoking in his or her own apartment The landlord is not in control of the tenant or the actions of the tenant.

Because the landlord is not responsible for the acts of the tenant, you cannot penalize the landlord by reducing the amount of rent you pay for the apartment. The only way the landlord might be responsible in any regard is if the building is deficient in terms of ventilation code requirements, which, if corrected, would keep the smoke from coming into your apartment. In that event, the landlord might be responsible for the costs of bringing your apartment into compliance with applicable building codes, and you might be entitled, after notice, to a reduction in rent based upon the apartment's noncompliance with the building codes.

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Robert A. Boron, a Chicago attorney who specializes in leasing matters, writes about landlord and tenant issues for the Tribune. Questions to him can be addressed to Rental Q&A, Real Estate section, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 4th floor, Chicago, IL 60611. He also can be reached by e-mail at realestate@tribune.com. Sorry, but he cannot make personal replies.